A research team from the USDA Forest Service and the University of Missouri has developed a new contaminant prioritization tool that has the potential to increase the effectiveness of environmental approaches to landfill clean-up.
A research team from the USDA Forest Service and the University of Missouri has developed a new contaminant prioritization tool that has the potential to increase the effectiveness of environmental approaches to landfill clean-up.
Phytoremediation – an environemental approach in which trees and other plants are used to control leachate and treat polluted water and soil – hinges on matching the capability of different tree species with the types of contaminants present in soil and water. Identifying the worst contaminants within the dynamic conditions of a landfill has been challenging.
“Thousands of contaminants can be present in landfill leachate, and contamination can vary by location and over time, so it can be difficult to determine what needs to be, or even can be targeted with environmental remediation,” said Elizabeth Rogers, a USDA Forest Service Pathways intern and the lead author of the study. “This tool allows site managers to prioritize the most hazardous contaminants or customize the tool to address local concerns.”
Read more at: USDA Forest Service - Northern Research Station
A research team from the USDA Forest Service and the University of Missouri has developed a new contaminant prioritization tool that has the potential to increase the effectiveness of environmental approaches to landfill clean-up. Photograph shows an agroforestry phytoremediation buffer system in southeastern Wisconsin. (Photo Credit: Paul Manley, Missouri University of Science and Technology; used with permission)
